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player ready...A new, five-year contract between Hawthorn School District 73 and its teachers union includes a different pay scale for teachers and extends additional benefits to the district’s educational support staff.
District board members approved the agreement with the Hawthorn Education Association during a meeting Thursday after 87% of HEA’s members endorsed it last week.
After the new deal takes effect July 1, teachers at District 73 can start preparing to receive annual salary increases that will be based off the number of years worked, which changes the salary schedule for teachers and other HEA members from the one that was negotiated in the district’s current two-year contract.
In the current contract, which expires June 30, teachers and other union members received annual raises based on the rate of inflation. The new salary schedule, commonly referred to as a step system, bases those raises off teachers’ years of experience while also offering union members an additional pay incentive to further their education, according to both the district and HEA.
The individual steps in the new, five-year agreement are based on pay rates that previously were a part of other negotiations in past contracts, said Superintendent Peter Hannigan.
Millie Naughton, HEA co-president who is a second grade teacher at the district, said teachers and other HEA members wanted to return to a step system partially since it is easier for members to project their individual earnings.
“(Members are able to say), ‘This is where I am. I’m fitting into this box, per say, and this is the amount of education I have,'” she said. “You can pinpoint what you’re making and kind of project what you will make also.”
Naughton said the new salary schedule also includes rates that are comparable to surrounding school districts.
The contract carries over most of the same benefits for members from the previous contract, but educational support staff will be receiving additional benefits, Naughton said.
The additions include an equitable amount of sick days, long-term disability, life and accidental death insurance, as well as family and medical leave, according to district documents.
“(Support staff) were either not offered it at all or maybe not as much,” Naughton said. “Now, we are all the same.”
Minor changes to the types of health insurance plans offered by the district and contributions of employees also should save about $300,000 in annual costs to District 73, according to Hannigan.
Under the new salary schedule, the average annual increase for teachers and other licensed staff is projected to be 2.9%, Hannigan said. Educational support staff’s average increase is projected at 2.63% annually.
The 2020-21 total stipend budget also is increasing by 2%. Stipends then will increase annually by 1% from the 2020-21 school year through 2024-25, documents show.
Teachers are paid through the stipend budget for managing school clubs and extracurricular activities, including sports and creative clubs, Naughton said.
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The new contract also will increase the instructional day to seven hours by the 2023-24 school year, according to district documents. The current day is 6.25 hours for elementary classrooms and 6.5 hours for middle schools.
Half days also will be eliminated by the 2023-24 school year, and students will be released earlier on Wednesdays by 30 minutes. Staff will have professional development staff meetings for 1.5 hours, documents show.
During the recent board meeting, Naughton said she was proud of the work that went into the agreement. Negotiations spanned more than eight meetings and happened throughout the past year, she said.
“On behalf of HEA … we really appreciate the efforts that went into this,” Naughton said. “It was a really good process I think and we’re glad with everything that we were able to do.”
Hannigan said the agreement is mutually beneficial to both sides.
“Really, it was an eight-month process,” he said. “I believe by having that collaborative process, it helped us build trust and helped us move forward to becoming one district and being united, and doing what’s best for the kids.”